Knowing the three stages of the hero’s journey just might help you identify where you are on the entrepreneur’s path and help you reach your intended goal.
Remember, it’s not just the destination, it’s the journey.
Step One: Departure or Separation. Entrepreneurship requires departure from the comforts and security of “normal” life. Sometimes, your departure from the standard path is solely your own choice to follow the vision you just have to follow. Other times, your journey might be prompted by a layoff, downsizing or other unexpected change in your previous corporate status.
Whatever the reason for the departure, it often feels scary and exciting simultaneously. Just how frightening or amazing it feels has a lot to do with how much choice you had in making that leap versus being pushed but, regardless why you stepped on your path, enjoy and congratulate yourself that you’ve gotten this far. As the Chinese philosopher Lau Tzu said, “the journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”
Welcome to the path, fellow traveler.
Before you take that leap, here’s my advice: It’s going to be really, really hard. So you got to believe in your vision, in the problem you want to solve/in the need that yours can satisfy, because it won’t make sense any other way.
Meanwhile, you got to be OK with that your classmates who played it safe and earning a six figure income. He’s driving an Audi, eating in posh places like Andre’s, clubbing at Mink and dating that super-hot girl. He’s got the kind of brand name experience on his resume that’s a springboard to anywhere else. (He could easily be a she; reverse as desired.)
This is the price you pay if you do decide to run your own, and it’s real no matter how sexily the media dresses up entrepreneurship. The only way this cost makes sense is if you believe in your vision; to the point where it doesn’t even matter if you fail while pursuing it – the act of trying is enough.
Otherwise, the hours, the doubts, the persistent lack of extra money (where most money go to staff,regulatory cost and whatsoever hidden cost), the decisions that proved wrong, the friend you recruited who turned out poisonous…all those things will wear on you. You must believe in what you do and enjoy the process, otherwise the price is too steep.
Step Two: Initiation. Campbell calls it initiation, but you can think of it more like challenges. Maybe, when you started, you thought the world would embrace you with open arms but, now that you’re on your way, you realize it isn’t quite so simple.
Just like the hero in every story or myth you’ve ever been told, you have to earn your success through trials and challenges of growth, discovery and failure . This is rarely a brief stage of the story. In fact, this is where the bulk of the journey takes place. As an entrepreneur, this is where you can expect frustration and the agony of lots of setbacks, even failures and many ungodly late hours when all you want is rest. Luke Skywalker lost a hand. Odysseus had to face the Cyclops and almost died from the lure of the Sirens.
You will face a series of serious, sometimes disastrous challenges along the way but, if you remember the hero’s journey, you’ll find the skill, mindset and wit to overcome.
A good peer group can help! Luke had the rest of the crew to help him defeat the Death Star and get back the empire. Odysseus had his men tie him to the mast when he otherwise would’ve succumbed to the call of the Sirens and jumped ship to his ultimate defeat.
Keep your good friends and an understanding support group close by to master the challenges and overcome the failures of your entrepreneurial initiation.
Step Three: Return. The hero must eventually return to the beginning place to realize how far he’s come. So, too, will you at your success moment.
You will know you have come far and that the starting place, while still there, it’s forever changed because you are changed from the journey.
You will repeat the hero’s journey with each pursuit you have in life but never again as a novice.
You can never return home from the journey the same person.
That’s what ultimately makes the entrepreneurial journey worth it. When you’re battling initiation and grappling with defeat, you are also gaining experience, honing great skills and developing priceless relationships. You’ll start another project when you realize the success of this path, yet you’ll never travel as the same person again.
And while cash flow and business experience matter, the real secret, he says, “starts in your head with your success mindset, attitude and positive thinking.” This is what gets you through the struggle.
Be where your customers are … and communicate with them there.” –
“Never stop networking, never stop pushing. It’s easy to give up when everybody around you … is telling you ‘you can’t do it’. You have to be around positive people. Then push on.”
“Our first three years were brutally tough… every day was about survival. Then I remembered a lesson from my father. Your mind is everything, yet it’s not what you know, but rather how you deal with it. It is about your mindset and positive thinking.”
“Entrepreneurship is one of the loneliest professions in the world. The entrepreneurs that are really successful reach out in networking groups and peer associations — or just to one person. They need that thought partner.”
Adam Toren
Contributor
Serial entrepreneur, mentor, investor and co-founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com
* Doing your own business is like a marriage. Starting it is probably the easiest stage. To persevere on mentally and emotionally is what creates the break through. Of course also with lots of prayers *
